


Costa Rican Memories

by iLibra, tsund0ku_library



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Mild Language, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Typical Teenage Troubles, happy family AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-31 01:37:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6450211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iLibra/pseuds/iLibra, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsund0ku_library/pseuds/tsund0ku_library
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Eva left, John had to deal with a pack of three little kids on his own. But with the help of Kaz and Adam they all managed somehow.</p><p>A series of drabbles playing out in a Happy Family Alternate Universe.</p><p>~ Newest Update: Christmas Eve Eve in Costa Rica with the Deaux family ~</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. When She Left

If John would say that it was sudden, he'd be lying. The day Eva packed all her stuff and told him that she would take the kids with her didn't come as a surprise. Although that didn't mean that he would just let her take the kids without a fight. John was standing in the door frame of their shared bedroom, watching as his soon to be ex-wife started gathering her clothes, wrenching open drawers and yanking shirts free of their hangers. The twins were playing in their room together and their youngest family member was sleeping peacefully in John's arms, small body nestled against his chest, tiny mouth hanging open.

"Eva..." he started, knowing already that nothing he could say would convince her to stay, but needing to try.

"No, John. We both know that this relationship isn't going anywhere." she said in a voice of forced calm, trying not to wake George up. She shoved a crumpled fistful of t-shirts into her well-worn, oversized backpack and spun around to face her husband. "You know I love you. But you don't love me. You never have. And I was naive enough to believe that I could deal with that, but I can't."

Eva stared him in the eye, her mouth set, arms folded, as if daring him to deny it. Hoping he would. John's gaze slid away and Eva sighed. For a tense moment he thought she was going to cry, her shoulders sagging, but the moment was gone and she turned away, shaking her head and stuffing more things into her bag.

John tried to say something, anything to make her stay, but each time he opened his mouth, his mind felt blank. He knew she was right. It hurt to actually hear it from her mouth, but she was right. When he looked at Eva he felt deep trust and friendship, and it was a kind of love, but not the right kind. Not the kind that she needed. Not the kind meant for the mother of his kids.

John had thought that this uncomfortable feeling in his gut would stop as soon as they got married after Eva had gotten pregnant. But it didn't. He just thought that's what people were supposed to do. Find a nice girl, marry her and have some kids, but he never really felt like this was right. He didn't marry her because he loved her; he did because he felt like that's what he was supposed to do. They had moved into this nice house in Costa Rica to settle down, but he could always see that Eva felt restless here. She wasn't made for being a housewife, she longed to be free, she lived for the road and for the adventure of traveling. It had been hard enough to keep her away from her motorcycle when she was pregnant.

When she finished packing her bag, she turned around again to face John, dropping her gaze down to George, still sleeping in his arms. 

"You can't take the kids with you." John blurted out, his arms tightening unconsciously around his son.

"No?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "They're _my_ kids."

"They're _our_ kids, Eva!" John said, raising his voice and George woke up, a high pitched squeal cutting off their argument. He put George over his shoulder, patting his back soothingly. Eva opened her arms and John stared at her before he realized what she wanted. With one last pat on the back he reluctantly handed George to her, and with a few hushed words, Eva managed to calm him down.

"That's not a good environment for the kids to grow up, Eva." John said eventually, his gaze fixed on George.

"What isn't exactly?" she said in a dangerously quiet voice. He could feel her gaze lying on him, but he couldn't look away from George who had fallen back asleep in Eva's arms.

"Come on, Eva. You're always on the run. You can't stay at one place for too long. The kids, they would have to go to a new school every few years. That can't be good for them and you know that!" John tried to explain his concerns to her. She looked back down at their sleeping son and after a long moment of silence, she sighed.

"Damn it." Eva said, her voice breaking. She knew he was right. She loved her kids to death. She already knew what would be best for them, she just didn't want to admit it without at least a little fight.

It was only a few days later that she packed all her remaining stuff and left them. She kissed their kids goodbye and they smiled at her, too young to realize what was really going on.

"You better take damn good care of them or I'll run you over with my motorcycle, you hear me?" Eva warned him, kissing his cheek one last time before turning around, driving away with her backpack on her shoulders only moments later.

John watched her go, feeling lost. He went inside and sat down at the kitchen table, listening to his children babbling in the living room before getting up and calling the two men he trusted most, who were sharing an apartment together nearby. As soon as someone picked up the phone he spoke.

"Guys, I think I need your help."

\-------------------

10 years later 

 

“Dad, Eli won't give me the controller! I wanna play that game we got too!” David complained, walking into the living room, where his father and his friends, Adam and Kaz were sitting. John raised his cigar to his lips again before answering.

"Then fight for it." he said without thinking too much about it, puffing on his cigar.

"John!" Adam hit his shoulder scoldingly. Kaz just sat there with an amused grin on his face, because _of course_ that would be John's answer to the problem. John just sighed, put his cigar out and got up after Adam had shot him a warning look.

“Okay, okay, I'll talk to him.” the father muttered, getting off the couch and letting himself be lead into the twins' room by David, who had grabbed his hand.

Adam and Kaz watched as John was pulled from the room, both smiling faintly. It had been rough after Eva had left John and their children behind in Costa Rica, but between the three of them, they somehow managed. It wasn't without a good deal of sleepless nights and loud arguments, of course, but they were happy together.

After Adam and Kaz talked for a little while, trying to ignore the sound of the twins fighting, they noticed George edging into the room, a few textbooks and papers clutched to his chest. He kept his gaze down at the floor, and he seemed to struggle with what he wanted to say.

"What's the matter, George?" Adam asked him with a warm smile on his face. The boy finally looked up and slowly put his papers on the table before him.

"Could you maybe... look over my homework? I mean, only if it's not too much trouble, of course..." he mumbled, straightening out the papers on the table, looking nervously from Kaz to Adam and back at the papers. The men both chuckled at George's shy request.

"Of course, no problem." Kaz answered for both of them and patted the free space between him and Adam, gesturing for George to get on the couch. The boy smiled happily and took the space Kaz had suggested and they both started reading through George's papers while the boy flipped through his text books for a bit.

It didn't take long until they could hear screams coming from the twins' room where John had stayed with them for the last few minutes.

"David! Give me the fucking controller back!" They could hear Eli shouting, followed by some scrambling noises that probably came from the blond boy trying to regain control of the controller.

"Hey, watch your language, you little shit!" John shouted back at him, and even more noises could be heard after that. Adam sighed deeply at that comment from the father.

"That's not setting a good example, John!" Adam shouted, getting up with the intent to go help with the situation in the other room.

"I'll check on them." Kaz assured him, taking off to the bedroom, just as the scuffling noise of the brothers was punctuated by an alarming thump.

"Guys, guys, I'm sure we can work this out without any more bloodshed," Kaz said, shutting the door behind him. Adam turned around to face George, who was still sitting on the couch, looking sadly at his papers. Adam offered George his hand, wiggling his fingers to encourage him to take it.

"Sorry, George, we'll finish this later, I promise. But we should probably make sure your brothers won't beat each other's heads in, you know? Your father would probably just encourage that..." He gave George a warm smile that the boy returned shyly, taking his hand and standing up at last and walking with him to the door.

Outside the door, they could hear some more shouting from both the twins and the two adults in the room.

"He's just not good at this game, that's why I'm saying he should give me the controller!"  
"I would be better at this game if you would just let me play, you idiot!"

"Calm down, why don't you both just take turns? Or just find a game where you can play together." Kaz tried to soothe them, but apparently no one was listening to him.

"Who are you calling an idiot?"

"I'm calling you an idiot, you idiot!" After that John's deep voice rumbled through the room.

"This calls for a competition between you two!" And that was apparently the best suggestion he could think of at the moment.

"What?!" Everyone else said in bewildered unison. Adam let out a deep sigh once again, looking down at George.

"Just a normal day at the Deaux family, right?" he said with a laugh, and George couldn't help but chuckle with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for Reading <3
> 
> This is a collaboration between [tsund0ku_library](http://archiveofourown.org/users/tsund0ku_library) and [iLibra](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ilibra). It'll be a series of way too long drabbles all playing out in our constructed Happy Family AU! This is hugely inspired by some of the awesome artworks from [coefore](http://coefore.tumblr.com/) on tumblr!
> 
> This chapter was written by both of us, with me (Libra) writing the first draft and tsund0ku_library editing it and adding a whole bunch of stuff ;3
> 
> Leave us a comment here or talk to us on tumblr if you liked it! 
> 
> Edit: Gosh, I totally forgot to add this for clarification: In the first scene David and Eli are about 2 years old and George is about 1 year old. We decided to make George a year younger than the twins in this, because we thought actually having triplets would be a bit unlikely o:


	2. A Very Merry Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a normal Christmas Eve Eve in the Deaux family.

"Can we go home now?" John asked with a hint of desperation, exhausted after being dragged around through what felt like every store within a 100 mile radius by his kids. He really wasn't the type of person for excessive shopping trips, but David had insisted on going to yet another store, unhappy with the range of items in all of the previous ones.

"No, Dad! We don't have a proper whisk for Kaz yet!" David exclaimed, forgetting the "Uncle" in front of Kaz's name. Both he and John noticed, but his father let it slide for now, feeling that the slight embarrassment on his young son's face was enough of a reprimand. He was really exhausted, after all. He can't help but sigh, casting an eye down the seemingly endless aisles. 

"Then hurry up and pick one already, David." John urged him, adjusting a soundly sleeping George a bit on his shoulders, careful not to wake him. John was not the only one exhausted from their shopping trip. While the twins continued to look through the shelves in front of them, John let his gaze wander over the rest of the cooking section, and then his feet. He needed a breather from his twins. 

"Well... How about this one?" Eli asked, taking a small whisk with a red handle and holding it up so David can see. Even if the blond twin would never admit it, he really wanted to help finding a good present for Uncle Kaz.

"That's way too small." David pointed out, and Eli angrily shoved it back to its place on the shelf, annoyed with his brother for _never_ going with his ideas. 

"Well, then _you_ pick one already!" Eli huffed, crossing his arms. Even he is tired of trying to find the perfect whisk at this point, David was definitely putting way too much thought into this. 

"I know... I just-" David started when he got interrupted by his dad, who was two aisles over. 

"David, come over here. How about we just buy one of these sets? It looks better than just the whisk by itself." The twins followed their father's voice down the rows and upon rows of kitchen equipment and found themselves in front of a big display with many different cooking sets, all of them including what seemed like a vast array of kitchen utensils.

"Really, Dad? But that's so much more than a whisk!" David wondered, a note of awe in his voice even as he began looking through the different sets in front of him despite himself, already half convinced that his father had found the Holy Grail of presents. 

"Please just pick one already." John said tiredly, unashamed of the plaintive note in his voice. At this point John would pay any amount of money if it meant that they could just go home. He looked at David with a tentatively hopeful expression.

"But... which design, Dad?" David asked, already deep in thought again. 

"You've got to be kidding me, David…" John whispered.

John sighed yet again, pinching the bridge of his nose and slumping forward slightly, startling George awake by accident. Their little brother looked around, confused as to why they are still not home yet. George originally wanted to help the twins pick a present for Uncle Kaz, but couldn't make it through their long trip without falling asleep. Now he just rubbed his eyes drowsily and rested his cheek on his father's head again.

John had never felt happier than in the moment they stepped out of the store, a bag with a brand new cooking utensil set inside in hand and finally ready to go home. Buying Christmas presents really wasn't easy.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

George was sitting at their living room table on the 23rd of December, pencils in various colors splayed all over the place, focused on the paper in front of him. It was still pretty early in the afternoon, just after they all finished lunch, but he was already stressed out. He wasn't sure if he would be able to finish his picture in time before his beloved Uncles came over to celebrate Christmas Eve Eve with them. 

"What are you doing there, George?" David asked him when he came over, confused by the mess on the table. Usually George never left anything scattered around. He was an almost unnaturally tidy child. 

"I'm working on the present… for Uncle Ocelot." he said, while taking a red pencil and started coloring a part of the picture, taking pedantic care not to draw outside of the lines he drew. David sat down next to him, looking over all the things George had managed to assemble on the picture. It showed their whole little family standing next to each other and holding hands with some palm tress beside them. After coloring the hands of Uncle Ocelot on the picture in red, just like the gloves he always wore, George set the pencil down and started thinking about what color to pick next.

"That looks really good. I'm sure Uncle Ocelot will like it." David praised his little brother with a smile.

"Thank you." George returned his smile, but then focused on the array of colors in front of him again.

"Can I help you color something?" David asked, putting his head in his hands while looking over the picture. George gripped his pen a bit tighter. He didn't want to be rude to his brother, but he wanted to draw this picture by himself. David noticed George's reluctance and pointed at the corner of the paper, where the leaves of the palm trees were sticking out.

"I could help you color these, so the main drawing is still yours." David offered, already a problem solver, taking a green colored pencil in hand. George pondered this for a second before he nodded eventually. David grinned at his little brother and immediately started work. 

They worked on the drawing together for some time before Eli decided to join them on the table too.

"What are you drawing?" he asked.

"We're working on Uncle Ocelot's present." David answered for both of them, still hyper-focused on painting every part of the palm leaves green.

"So George _finally_ thought of something and it's a drawing?" Eli asked, irritated, looking over the different people on the picture. Neither of them deigned to grace his rude comment with a response.

"What the- is that supposed to be me? That doesn't look like me at _all_!" Eli exclaimed, pointing at the little blond figure that was holding David's hand on the drawing. "It's just a _blob_ with spaghetti hair!" 

"Shut up, Eli! It's not like you were any help thinking about a present!" David said, annoyed by his brother's remark. He didn't want George to feel like his present wasn't good enough. But before Eli could object again, George interfered.

"Eli, could you help me cut out some paper stars for the picture? Dad said- he said I'm not old enough to use the scissors yet." he asked and pointed at a yellow piece of paper with scissors lying on top of it. Eli looked befuddled at first, but grinned despite himself. 

"Guess it can't be helped if you're too small to do it!" he said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically for his own liking, picking up a sheet of paper and a pair of scissors with obvious glee. He started cutting out little stars without any outline at first, but then set the paper down to draw some stars on it before he tried again. His efforts were rewarded, the next stars turned out much less crooked and uneven. David couldn't help but look at George in amazement. It seemed like he was already getting the hang of how to handle Eli _and_ getting Eli to work _for_ him instead of against him on top of it.

The kids had just managed to finish the picture when the doorbell rang, and George jumped from his seat in a panic.

"D-don't let them in! The present isn't wrapped yet!" he shouted at his brothers. The twins ran to the living room door in a hurry, blocking anyone from coming in, though it didn't make much difference. Any adult could simply look over their heads into the room beyond. 

"You can't come in yet!" David shouted in the direction of their front door where the twins could already see Ocelot and Kaz coming inside. Both of them were surprised but nonetheless amused by the sight of David and Eli blocking the door with their arms spread out.

"Relax, kiddos. We're just gonna take our jackets off reaaal slowly, okay?" Kaz chuckled, making a show out of undoing every single button on his jacket. The twins kept glancing back into the living room, where George was frantically wrapping the drawing, smoothing out every edge carefully, so the paper wouldn't bend in any way. When they looked over to Uncle Ocelot, they were shocked to see that he wasn't even wearing a jacket of any kind.

"Come on, guys, it's way too hot outside for a jacket. I'm just gonna wait until this old man here is done." he said, noticing the kids staring at him.

"Hey, who are you calling _old_? You're older than-"

"I'm done!" George cheered, coming up behind the twins, almost pushing them aside. He was all too eager to greet their guests now, running into Uncle Ocelot's arms at full speed, who had already kneeled down in advance.

"Hey, what about me?" Kaz complained, giving George a fake pout as Ocelot picked him up. George leaned over a bit, wrapping his arms around Kaz's neck briefly, before settling down on Ocelot's arm again. The twins watched them hug George with a hint of resentment. The baby _always_ gets hugged first. 

John, who had been in the kitchen and watched the whole scene silently, offering no help to either party, grinned and waved the twins closer. David stepped toward Uncle Kaz and gave him a proper salute with a wide grin on his face, which Kaz returned with a smile. David smiled even more widely and hugged Kaz tightly around the middle, then hugged Uncle Ocelot. Ocelot could only pat David's back, still holding George. 

Eli had been watching the whole greeting process from the side, making no move towards either of their guests.

"Eli, at least shake their hands, come on." John told him, pushing his shoulder to make him take a step forward. Reluctantly, Eli gripped Kaz's hand, shaking it briefly and Kaz grinned at him, which made Eli roll his eyes in annoyance. After shaking Ocelot's hand as well, Eli ran back into the living room.

"Dad, can we open the presents now?" Eli shouted, jumping up and down in excitement.

"What? No. Adam and Kaz just got here and we haven't even eaten dinner yet." John sighed. His kids really were the most impatient people he knew. Once they had figured out that they would get presents on Christmas, the twins had been bugging all of them to get them sooner and since you could only listen to their babbling for so long, John had given in, letting all the kids open one present on Christmas Eve Eve, as the kids called the 23rd of December.

Balling his hands into fists, Eli stomped towards the living room table, slumping down on his seat.

"Then let's have dinner now!" he said, folding his arms on the table and burying his face in them. 

"Calm the fuck down, Eli, or you won't get a present at all!" John hissed at him, which earned him a shocked, angry look from Eli.

"John… your children will get the worst attitude if you talk like that." Adam sighed, letting George down, and pinching the bridge of his nose.

John told the kids to go play for a bit so that he could prepare dinner together with Adam and Kaz. Once the children settled down in the twins's room, Kaz began preparing their meal. He wouldn't let John cook Christmas dinner if his life depended on it.

"So I was wondering," Kaz began while he chopped some carrots. "is one of us gonna dress up as Santa? If so, I'd nominate John for the job. He's got that sort of presence." Kaz kept his eyes on the vegetables until he realized John had frozen in place. 

"What do you mean, 'dress up'?" he asked, shock clearly written on his face. Kaz could see Ocelot sighing and shaking his head behind John.

"Uhm… you know? Dress up as Santa? For the kiddos." Kaz said in disbelief. He didn't understand what the issue was here.

"What? And steal his identity?" John said angrily, bewildered as to why Kaz would even suggest something so wretched as that in the first place.

"What do you-" Kaz started, but Ocelot tugged on his arm, shaking his head mutely. Kaz squinted at him, not understanding a single thing that was happening. 

"He's only joking, John, don't worry." Ocelot explained with a smile, which seemed to calm the father down.

"Oh, okay… well, it wasn't very funny though. He's a nice man, he doesn't deserve that..." John grumbled, deciding to get himself something to drink and left his two friends alone in the kitchen.

"He can't seriously…?!"

"Just let it go, Miller."

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

After they all ate dinner and spent the majority of the evening together the kids were starting to get impatient. They were tired of playing together when there were _presents_ very clearly lying under the Christmas tree.

“Daaad...” Eli called, trying not to sound too whiny, as he had already tried that a couple of times this evening. He didn't even need to finish this sentence. Everyone knew what he was talking about, so John sighed.

“Okay, fine. You can open your presents now. But George will go first, because he's the only one who hasn't complained yet.” John announced while moving towards the Christmas tree and taking a rather large present from underneath it, handing it out to George.

“That's for me?” George beamed with excitement. He ripped the paper from the big box his present was in and gingerly removed the top with gentle hands. His eyes widened almost comically when he laid them on the huge plush animal inside of the box. He carefully reached inside, pulling the plush toy out.

“It's a snake!” George screeched with joy, hugging the animal close to his chest. The snake was more than twice as long as George was tall and made him look even smaller than he actually was.

“You like it?” Ocelot asked him, obviously being involved in the process of choosing a gift for all of John's kids. To George, however, that wasn't obvious in the slightest.

“Of course! I love it.” George exclaimed. “Thanks, Santa!” he said to no one in particular, looking out of the window. Eli couldn't help but snort at that.

“You actually believe in this Santa Claus crap?” Eli hissed at his little brother, which earned him some glares from the whole group and a gasp from George.

“Wh-what are you saying? Santa brings- Santa brings all the presents to the children. Uncle Ocelot told me!” his little brother tried to explain, despite his anger about Eli's comment.

“Do you believe everything Uncle Adam tells you? Geez!” Eli scoffed, not believing his brother's naivety. When Eli noticed however, how George's eyes were tearing up, he recoiled a bit. Ocelot noticed too and quickly pulled George up on his lap.

“Hey, show me your cool Snake, George!” Adam tried to distract him and fortunately it seemed to work, George taking care to explain the exact shade the snake was and shaking the tail demonstratively. 

“And- it- it's really cool. And soft, see?” George sniffed and rubbed his eyes, holding up the snake so Uncle Ocelot could see. Eli who witnessed the whole scene and heard Ocelot agreeing with George looked like he wanted to say something else, but his father stopped him with a sharp “Drop it, Eli.”

Thinking that finally getting his present could maybe calm Eli down a bit, John went to the Christmas tree again, to pick up a small squared, flat present and put it in his son's hand. Excited to see what it was, Eli ripped the paper from his present until he was holding a game for his and his twin's Gameboy in hands. His eyes beamed with excitement and joy, but noticing how everyone was watching him, he felt like he had to switch back to his bad boy demeanor.

“That's not the game I wanted!” he huffed. “But I'll take it anyway!” he quickly added, jumping up and running up to the room he shared with his twin to get their Gameboy immediately, before anyone could stop him. All the adults in the room sighed, then Kaz took the next present from under the tree, as he was sitting closest to it.

"Yours is next, David." he smiled and put the present in David's hand. David blushed a bit, but went straight to getting rid of all the wrapping paper, ripping through it with obvious zeal. Brushing the last bit of wrapping paper aside, he looked at the large, thick book in his hands. From examining the cover he could tell it was about all kinds of dogs. It was not only from the glossy, high quality photos of dogs on the cover, but also because Uncle Kaz had taught him how to read a few words, and that of course included the word “dogs”. He beamed with happiness and immediately began flipping through the pages.

“This is awesome! Thank you!” he said, a big smile on his face. “Can you read this to me, Uncle Kaz?” He asked, almost falling over his own feet in his excitement.

“Sure thing, kid, but maybe not before everyone got their present.” Kaz answered, giving David a warm smile and David blushed again, embarrassed when he remembered that Uncle Kaz hasn't opened the present they got for him yet. So he nodded enthusiastically and ran to the Christmas tree. He looked over to his father questioningly, who just nodded in agreement.

“This is for you, Uncle Kaz!” David said, once he picked up the present and went over to him again. David seemed more excited about Kaz opening it than he had seemed about his own present, shifting his weight from one leg to the other while Kaz removed the paper. When Kaz took the kitchen utensil set in hand, he couldn't even say anything before David began explaining.

“Because you said your old whisk was bugging you, 'cause of all the lumps and stuff in the whisky bit! And- and this set even has _all kinds_ of other stuff!” David huffed, excitedly hoping that Kaz would appreciate how much thought he had put into the present. Kaz smiled again and ruffled a hand through David's hair.

“Thanks, David. This is perfect.” Kaz assured him, and David beamed with happiness again, looking proud. Then a brief cloud went across his face.

"It's from all of us though, and Dad-" David started, but his father cut over him.

"He likes it, David, let it go." John said, as Eli walked back down from his room, his Gameboy in hand and already playing the game he got. His dad gave him a disapproving look, that didn't seem to bother Eli at all. He was used to it by now.

Uncle Ocelot distracted them all by carefully unwrapping his present. “You all worked on this together?” he asked George who was still sitting on his lap.

“Yes! I did- I dr-drew the picture and colored this and this.” he said pointing to several parts of the drawing. “And David- David helped color the palm trees and Eli cut out the p-paperstars!” George was so excited that he stumbled over his own words several times, but the others were patient with him. Except for Eli, who always got annoyed by George taking several tries to say something. On a whim Eli walked over and grabbed the stuffed snake that lay on the ground a few feet from George and Ocelot and inspected it with a disapproving twist to his mouth.

"This is such a little kid toy!" Eli proclaimed, shaking it roughly with an unimpressed look on his childish, round face. George could only watch his brother with worried eyes, not brave enough to demand it back after their previous argument. But thankfully his father stepped in.

“Eli, give George his present back.” When he didn't get a reaction, John added a demanding “Now!”

“Yeah, yeah, calm down! Geez.” Eli huffed, annoyed by everyone always expecting the worst from him. He carelessly threw the snake in George's direction.

“Ow!” George whined, holding a hand to his left eye where the animal's hard plastic eye had hit him. The twins both stared at George in shock, Eli thinking what a crybaby his little brother was, and David worried about George's well-being.

“What the hell, Eli? What if you make him go _blind_?” David shoved his brother's shoulder with a huff.

“He won't!” Eli complained, showing his brother back.

“You're going to make him blind!” David complained again, and they somehow ended up tumbling to the floor, wrestling with each other until their dad finally stepped between them.

Sighing about the not exactly unusual scene, Kaz looked at the Christmas tree again, noticing that there was still one present lying under it. Wondering who it was for, he picked it up, reading John's name on the tag attached to it.

“Did you make a present for your dad, kiddos?” Kaz asked them and all the kids looked at the present confused. 

“No, Dad gets his tomorrow with all the others.” David answered for them. While Kaz was inspecting the box curiously, turning it this way and that and marveling at how heavy it was, Adam suddenly came over and snatched the present out of his hand.

“This is from me.” he mumbled, the slightest blush on his face when he was walking over to where John was sitting.

“What? I thought today was only for the kids?” Kaz asked, confused.

“Well, you have to admit, John behaves like a kid sometimes. He probably would've sulked if he didn't get a present.” Ocelot whispered in Kaz's direction, avoiding Kaz's gaze. And Kaz couldn't really deny that logic, but he wasn't stupid. He knew why Adam had brought John a present today.

“Well, I can't argue with that, but I still got all my presents at home, so I don't wanna hear you complaining about what a cheapskate I am.” Kaz sighed, looking over to David, who was flipping through the pages of his new book, trying to make sense of what could be written in there. Kaz called him over, offering to read it to him and David was more than happy to take him up on his offer.

On the other side of the room, Ocelot was walking towards John, present in hand. He could see John trying not to seem too excited about it, but he failed miserably, looking more like an adorable puppy waiting for his treat. All that was missing was the frantically wagging tail. 

Taking the present from Adam a tad aggressively, John practically ripped the paper to shreds. When he was done he held an expensive-looking, brand-new gun in his hands. He turned it over, inspecting every part of it carefully, appreciating the way the weight felt in his hand, thinking that once he put ammunition in it would feel impeccably balanced. For a moment he didn't know how to react, but then he thought of something.

“No engravings?” John asked with a chuckle, making Adam's face heat with embarrassment, being reminded of his past self.

“They offer no tactical advantage!” Ocelot huffed, crossing his arms almost looking like he was sulking. John noticed Ocelot's slight disappointment and pulled him over into a hug.

“Thanks, Adam.” he said, squeezing his shoulder, feeling Adam relax with relief.

All the while Kaz was watching the whole scene from across the room, David on his lap to read the book for him. He looked at both of them with a knowing, sad smile. Adam closed his eyes, refusing to acknowledge it. Kaz only looked away when David urged him to continue reading.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“Dad, I heard a lot of kids around here talk about the mass hall they will go to tomorrow. How come we're not going there?” David asked once he had enough of watching Eli play his new game. John seemed to ponder this question for a little bit.

“Well, I guess cause we're celebrating the American way? I wouldn't even know what to do in a mass hall.” John answered, scratching the back of his neck.

“Then can we at least go to the Horse Parade? I heard it's on the 26th!” David pushed forward, excited about more Christmas celebrations. “I heard they even have cowboys there, showing off their horses and everything!” David tried to get his father to agree.

Hearing that Kaz couldn't help but poke Adam's side. “Did you hear that, Adam? Real _cowboys_!” he teased him, which earned him a shove from the other.

“Well, I don't see why not. Let's go there.” John said, shrugging his shoulders. Of course Kaz didn't miss not only David's excited gasp, but also Ocelot's equally excited one and started laughing at Ocelot's usually composed demeanor crumbling more and more with the time they already spend together. He still earned himself a hissed “Shut up, Miller!”, but it was damn well worth it.

Finally putting his game aside, Eli glanced around the room, spotting John's brand-new gun lying on the living room table.

“Hey dad, can you show us how to hold the gun?” Eli asked, almost jumping up and down in excitement. Surprisingly, David joined him, thinking that his twin finally had a cool idea for once.

“Yes, please can you show us?” David exclaimed, gaping at the shiny weapon he didn't quite appreciate before, being too immersed by his new book. And despite a few complaints from Kaz's side, John went to teach the twins how to properly hold his new gun, after having to assure Kaz several times that the safety was on. George didn't witness any of the ruckus, already asleep, curled up on the couch.

“Can you show us how to shoot it, dad?” Eli asked, aiming at the Christmas tree the way his dad had shown him, sighting along the barrel with his mouth hanging open comically. Kaz could already see the excitement in John's eyes, before he quickly interrupted him.

“You can't be serious, John!” he said, giving him a stern look. John slowly took the gun out of Eli's hands, to the kid's dismay, and looked away, scratching the back of his neck.

“N-no, of course not... they are way too young for that.” he said, sounding more like he thought this was what he was _supposed_ to say and not like he actually believed in it. Kaz could only sigh and shake his head.

“Sometimes, I really can't believe you, John...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
> 
> So tsund0ky-library and I decided to write a "little" Christmas drabble for this AU that went a bit overboard and ended up being this long. But we hope you enjoy this and that you're all having a great Christmas time :)
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment. We're always happy about feedback!


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